TRICK 'R TREAT (Blu-ray; Warner Premiere/Legendary Pictures)
Mike LoManaco
Posts: 974
Studio Name: Warner Premiere/Legendary Pictures
MPAA Rating: R
Disc/Transfer Information: 1080p High Definition; 16X9 2.4:1 (2.40:1)
Tested Audio Track: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Director: Michael Dougherty
Starring Cast: Anna Paquin, Brian Cox
LoMANACO'S PLOT ANALYSIS:
This is my absolute favorite time of year. There’s something just so damn spine-tingling about the crisp autumn air, falling orange leaves and that sense that fall has arrived and Halloween is just around the corner. While horror films have come and gone through this season over decades Hollywood has churned them out, it’s always refreshing when a new one comes along that really sums up the experience of Halloween – I can recall seeing John Carpenter’s Vampires in theaters when it debuted the night before Halloween 1998, and I never miss a viewing of Carpenter’s Halloween each and every year. But Michael Dougherty and Bryan Singer (of Superman Returns), in creating the tongue-in-cheek Trick ‘r Treat, attempted to thoroughly summarize what the whole holiday and custom is truly all about. It was a nice attempt, and it’s the first film in a very long while to wholeheartedly concentrate on Halloween itself, and all the downright creepy things that could, and do, happen on that night – even going into a plot based on mythology and Celtic legend. We’ll get to that.
First and foremost, Dougherty and Singer tapped the formula exhibited in films such as Creepshow, Tales From the Hood/Tales From the Crypt and Stephen King’s Cats Eye and spun four interwoven tales happening concurrently with each other and eventually flashing back to earlier events; the effect has been applied successfully before as those are all creepy, chilling horror tales in their own right. But what ties these stories together, always, are stories of ultimate revenge – remember when Ted Danson drowns on a beach in Creepshow and Leslie Nielsen is eventually stalked by Danson’s corpse? Remember when the racist cops are hunted down by the community leader in Tales From the Hood? And who can forget James Woods in that demented anti-smoking clinic run by the diabolical Alan King in Cats Eye? Here, in Trick ‘r Treat, this theme of revenge on All Hallows Eve runs rampant through different character’s experiences in a small town – we even have the classic comic book page effect throughout the film, a la Creepshow, and it’s most refreshing from a modern day horror story.
How do the stories interweave? Well, unlike Creepshow and the other aforementioned films that take this approach of multiple stories in one film, Trick ‘r Treat doesn’t introduce separate stories to make up one motion picture – the stories all correspond with one another and flow without interruption. For example, the film opens with a couple walking down the street on Halloween eve, and when they approach their house, they remove their costumes and flirt with one another, discussing taking down the decorations in their yard. The cute blonde (Leslie Bibb) teases her man with a ridiculously shapely behind in tight sweatpants, while he retreats into the house to watch a porno. As she is taking down the decorations in the yard, she’s brutally assaulted as some trick or treaters watch and then run in terror…her man eventually wakes up to come downstairs and outside to find her bloody remains and her head on a…well, I won’t give that one away. From there, the opening “comic book” sequence introduces us to other characters in the interwoven story, including a school principal (played by Spider-Man’s Dylan Baker) who catches a fat kid in the neighborhood knocking over jack o’ lanterns and stealing candy, and whom he exacts revenge on for doing these things by feeding him poisoned candy. Baker’s character’s motivation is cemented in his diehard beliefs in and respect for the Halloween tradition – once the fat kid is out of the way in a disgusting display including a chocolate sauce vomiting spree, Baker attempts to bury the kid in his backyard, where apparently, this principal has been collecting other bodies as he masquerades as a serial killer in this small town. Next door, he’s yelled at by his creepy old neighbor played by Red Eye’s Brian Cox, for making so much noise and causing his dog to bark at the fence separating their property.
Meanwhile, a group of sexy young girls are preparing to dress up in costume for a party, and we’re treated to teasingly provocative conversation between these ladies in the dressing rooms they’re in, including one smokin’ hot brunette saying to her friends, “my **** are popping out of this,” while another comments, “that’s the point.” Indeed. Amongst the group is a supposed virgin (Anna Paquin) who’s only desire this Halloween night is to !@!!@!^& her brains out with the cutest guy she can find, and her friends are trying to help. They seduce some guys here and there, attempting to get them to be their “dates” for this “party” they’re going to – but all is definitely not what it seems with these chicks. The seduction element of Halloween is explored here, while on another side of town, a group of mean teens gather to exploit and tease a town misfit…which is a typical element in films launched by the classic Carrie. They lure this creepy girl into a nearby mountain area, and the lead girl tells the group a story about a school bus massacre that happened here years ago on Halloween – the film then displays a flashback sequence, depicting “challenged” children on this school bus who are almost killed by the murderous driver who was paid off by the kid’s parents to get rid of them. He drives the bus to the edge of the cliff the teens are now standing on, but one of the kids breaks free from his restraints on the bus as the driver is handing out candy before attempting to kill them, and drives the bus off the cliff himself. According to the teens now standing at the edge of this cliff, years later, the souls of these murdered challenged kids haunt the waters below…and the bus they were on was never found. They begin to play a prank on the girl they brought out to tease by pretending to be the dead spirits of the kids from that bus crash – but they are soon screaming and running themselves from something not of this world…and very much real…
The film goes back and forth between all these scenarios happening at the same time in this town – the principal that dumps bodies in his backyard, the creepy old man attacked by a small hooded figure named “Sam” that turns out to be a Halloween demon, the sexy girls attempting to get their virgin friend laid and the group of teens attempting to conjure up the spirits of the dead school bus kids. There’s a moment when the comic book pages of animation indicate “EARLIER…” on the bottom of the screen, and the events go back a bit so we can see what happened that got all of these characters into the situations they’re in. The most interesting and surprising moment of Trick ‘r Treat comes when Anna Paquin’s virgin character ends up reversing an attack made on her by a guy at this Halloween festival/party that appears to be a real vampire – could that be the principal under all that vampire makeup and the black mask? Was he a real vampire, or was he using fake teeth to bite girls all Halloween night? Better yet, is this virgin and her sexy friends the nice, flirty group of coochies they’re making themselves out to be? You’ll be in for the surprise of your life after watching this sequence of Trick ‘r Treat.
The most disappointing sequence in the film comes when Brian Cox’s old man scrooge character is attacked by some “thing” in his house that torments him on this Halloween night; he opens his door to find dozens of glowing jack o’ lanterns in his front yard, and then he’s assaulted by the small hooded figure that’s been watching over every situation in the film from a distance…this figure, lovingly named “Sam” (for the real name of the Halloween holiday, Samhain), plans on teaching Cox a lesson for his refusal to “respect” Halloween. The whole thing gets campy and ridiculous, with this small costumed thing slicing at Cox’s legs from under his bed, and then coming after him with a broken-off Halloween lollipop; I don’t know what the point of all of this was, but if you listen to Dougherty during one of the main documentaries on the disc, you’ll see how this was a passionate element for him.
The ride was definitely fun, and I am going to watch this a few more times before I have to return this disc to my editor, and I’m probably going to view it on the 31st. Yet, much like Drag Me to Hell, I just don’t know about this one…it was creepy in the style and panache of Creepshow and other “multiple-tales-in-one-film” titles over the years, but something about it just made it very silly at the end of the day. Definitely worth a rental for this week, though.
TRICK 'R TREAT REVIEW CONTINUED BELOW...
Post edited by Mike LoManaco on
Comments
-
TRICK 'R TREAT REVIEW CONTINUED...
VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS:
Surprisingly coming from Warners Premier subdivision, Trick r Treats 1080p 2.40:1 Blu-ray transfer didnt look that good. Heres a studio that, yes, has had some stinkers on Blu like Christmas Vacation or Michael Clayton, but for the most part, have released sharp-looking discs. I dont know what went wrong here, but the transfer is marred with overblown black levels that make many sequences look washed out, as if your brightness control is up too high. Many shots didnt exhibit that much detail, and there was an issue of a noisy grain that popped up in dark sequences. This noisy artifacting followed characters through multiple scenes at times and the overall look of the transfer just wasnt pleasing. It had some moments when the visuals cleared up a bit, and you were able to make out the detail in the wet streets and lush foliage and such, but this wasnt the stellar transfer I was hoping for befitting its rather new status.
AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS:
FINALLY Warner has released a Blu-ray Disc that defaults to its TrueHD high resolution track upon the films start! We have been waiting for this, and it happened upon the start of Trick r Treat. This was important, being that there was a lossy Dolby Digital track on the disc as well; but, alas all is not perfect. This was a rather disappointing English 5.1 TrueHD mix, from the somewhat low overall volume output of the track to the lack of anything really exciting going on. Moments of ambience crept into the surrounds, but it wasnt an aggressively utilized soundstage; LFE was on the weak side (difficult to judge, admittingly, due to my players LFE bug that plagued my model when audio is sent as decoded PCM over HDMI) and the whole track just seemed as if it were lacking.
Unfortunately, a disappointing audio and video experience here.
SUMMARY:
The theme is absolutely cool that is, a film dedicated to exploring the legends of Halloween via intertwined tales like Creepshow did so perfectly years ago and there are some shocking moments, but I just dont see this getting much repeated play; now, your mileage may vary, but I need to spend some more time with Trick r Treat to make a final call on this.
MY RECOMMENDATIONS:
Definitely worth a rental and do it before this week is up. It will be a good play in your home theater on Saturday night (the 31st) if youre hosting a Halloween Horror Film Marathon as I do. However, I cannot recommend a buy right now until I get more out of this film with repeat viewings; if youre a Halloween freak, this will be an interesting rental indeed. -
I loved this movie. As mentioned, it is definitely a nod to some of the horror anthologies of yesteryear. What struck me most about this movie is its superb cinematography and art direction. Some scenes I paused to just to take it all in. For example, an elaborate pumpkin patch adorned with scarecrows that passes by in the background in a matter of seconds. You can really tell a lot of love went into this on a visual level.
Of course, the studios had no idea how to market it and it went straight to DVD. This is utterly ridiculous, since it more well made than most of what constitutes a "must-see" in the theaters.I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore -
Zombie obviously has a labor of love for horror flicks, and his references are indeed interesting -- there is a great deal more, however, behind the entire "marketing mistakes" that allowed for this film to go straight to video. It went beyond "not marketing it right" and was an issue between execs at Warner Premiere. At any rate, the photography and location shooting was indeed top notch, if the film itself just fell flat a bit as a whole.
-
I couldn't help but notice that the film paid homage to some Horror classics. I believe Sam slicing at the old man's ankles from underneath the bed was an obvious nod to Pet Sematary.I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore
-
wrong thread - oops...I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore
-
zombie boy 2000 wrote: »I couldn't help but notice that the film paid homage to some Horror classics. I believe Sam slicing at the old man's ankles from underneath the bed was an obvious nod to Pet Sematary.
Indeed -- and there are other nods to Cat's Eye here as well. But Trick 'r Treat is more in the fashion of those "comic-like adaptation" horror tales like Creepshow, Tales From the Crypt/Hood, Cat's Eye...a bit less like Pet Sematary. Of course, Cat's Eye wasn't a true "from the pages of a comic" horror tale as the others were, but the fact that the film had several different stories within it, tied together by a feline character, made it a good connection to Trick 'r Treat.
I just didn't get the whole Sam stabbing Brian Cox's throat with the broken off lolipop, and then discovering that he stabbed into a chocolate bar -- and then Sam proceeds to eat the chocolate! I was watching that thinking "what the !@!@#!@ was THAT all about!?" -
zombie boy 2000 wrote: »wrong thread - oops...
Huh? You had the right thread -- we're talking about "Sam" from Trick 'r Treat. -
Nope... I had meant to post something in the Drag Me to Hell thread. Something that may just blow your mind....I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.Herman Blume - Rushmore
-
I realized that afterwards -- I commented on the "mind-blowing" realization you tried to provide...;) :rolleyes:
-
I liked this movie as well. I thought it was a nice change of pace for a Halloween movie. It was well written, the stories blended well and it was not over the top. It had a message to deliver and it did it well.
-
I liked this movie as well. I thought it was a nice change of pace for a Halloween movie. It was well written, the stories blended well and it was not over the top. It had a message to deliver and it did it well.
Thanks for your thoughts on TRICK R TREAT, Zoom!
I had some more time with the title before I needed to return it to my editor, so I watched it multiple times and would like to share some added insight:
First of all, in addition to Warner finally releasing their titles with lossless tracks defaulting automatically instead of the lossy versions (on Blu-rays), TRICK R TREAT was also the very first Blu-ray I ever played that allowed a "resume" function when I pressed stop to pause the disc...every BD title thus far that I have sampled has forced the viewer to go back to the beginning of the loadup screen if you pressed STOP duing playback. In order to resume where you left off, you needed to press PAUSE. On TRICK R TREAT, the STOP button allowed you to pick up where you left off by pressing PLAY again -- finally.
Also, I made some more sense out of the plot here than from the first time I viewed it; the "creature" that hides behind the strange "scarecrow"-like mask, "Sam," is actually the element that ties all the stories together. He's the "guardian" of sorts of the Halloween traditions and legends, and he attacks -- and sometimes kills -- those he notices "ignoring" or "insulting" these traditions. The film plays back through Sam's perspective during different events throughout one night in this town, as Sam watches from a distance...the initial attack and killing of the girl who returns home from the Halloween parade with her boyfriend, or husband, in her front yard takes place right after Sam attacks Brian Cox's character in his house, but doesn't kill him (the strange scene I mentioned when Sam attempts to stab Cox with a broken half of a lolipop but instead impales the pop on a candy bar and proceeds to eat it, leaving Cox alive)...Sam notices the girl not "observing" the Halloween traditions her man believes in, and thus attacks her under those sheets. We also see the "virgin" girl and her friends drive by this house, and we know, from watching the film, that they end up attending that fireside "party" and doing the nasty to some unfortunate fellas that don't really know who they are -- the sequencing goes back and forth over this one evening.
An issue I noticed with the film, too, was that while this town was definitely not in New York (according to references made in the beginning), the girls who drive by in their Audi SUV/crossover (the ones traveling with their Little Red Riding Hood virgin friend) have license plates that say New York -- this didn't make sense. At any rate, after watching TRICK R TREAT a few more times, you get a better sense of the "flow" of this film, as each event is happening in different stages in this one town, but they all connect with one another somehow, and the little "Sam" pumpkin demon creature is right there to tie them all together -- just like the feline in CATS EYE. I really didn't like the "Sam" concept though; here's some "thing" that wears baby pajamas and a weird mask with mis-sewn button eyes, and terrorizes a neighborhood with a jagged pumpkin lolipop, and yet its guts are made up of pumpkin seeds and threads, while all the time, its dismembered "hand" crawls to it and wakes it back up after a shotgun blast from Brian Cox's character. It was utterly ridiculous and silly, in my opinion.
But this was DEFINITELY a fun rental for this past Halloween season, and while I won't be buying it (at least not until next October or so), I can recommend a rental next Halloween. -
kuntasensei wrote: »Thank you for your thoughts, F1nut!
Yes. Thank you for your thoughts, indeed. When people harass other people for no apparent reason or motive, it is what the "report" function was created for.
